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By Jason Yon and Brian Brecker
Senior Writer and Elm Staff Writer

Jason says….

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is easily the largest, most popular, and widespread series of films in the world. The movies feature a huge diverse cast of some of the best contemporary actors. Each movie is connected chronologically and laterally through cameos and references.

Marvel is showing no signs of slowing down with the might of Disney behind it. The most recent movie, “Thor: Ragnarok,” the 17th in the series, dropped this month with a fairly positive reception.

“Ragnarok” is by far one of the most humorously directed marvel movies and it shows. Scene by scene, the humor draws away from much of the drama. Several serious moments are destroyed by a single joke. It is important for comedic breaks, but in a movie that is essentially about the apocalypse of an entire race there feels like there is too much humor.

“Ragnarok” brings up the problems associated with having such an intertwined universe. If you haven’t seen all the movies, it can completely change your understanding of the story.

“Thor: Ragnarok” is one of the best Marvel movies and easily the best of the Thor movies to be released. It has been a while since I have actually admitted to enjoying a Marvel movie, but I think it’s safe to say that “Thor: Ragnarok” is a good time.

Score: B

Brian says…

“Thor: Ragnorak” is the third film in the Thor franchise and the first genuinely enjoyable one. While “Thor” was entertaining, it suffered from a poor climax and romantic comedy shenanigans which tended to undercut the epicness of the Nordic gods’ setting and abilities. “Thor: The Dark World” has often been touted as once of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s least interesting installments, featuring generic elf villains and a humorless plot.

A large part of why the Thor series hasn’t worked up until “Ragnorak” has much to do with Marvel’s aversion to including all the ridiculous fantasy usually present in the Thor comics. However, after the success of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” it shown that audiences are willing to accept, and love, a talking raccoon and a giant tree monster; therefore, Marvel felt far more comfortable opening the floodgates for this new interpretation of the “Thor” film franchise.

The humor lands well and the action is fun and over-the-top. Much of what makes the film work is that it is essentially a buddy feature with Thor and the Hulk.

Mark Ruffalo gives a performance reminiscent of Rick Moranis in “Ghostbusters” while playing Bruce Banner. As the Hulk, Ruffalo lets the character truly shine for the first time in the MCU.

Several characters are “adapted” from the Planet Hulk comics, such as Korg and Meek. They are far more parodies of their original printed versions, with Meek just being a pet.

Ultimately, while “Thor: Ragnarok” does wonders to revitalize the Thor and Hulk, it does only a bit to fix what was fundamentally wrong with the Thor franchise.

“Thor: Ragnorak” is a fantastically entertaining popcorn flick with enough action and enjoyable characters to necessitate a second viewing.